Thursday, 21 February 2008

Another (fun) deviation

I was in Toronto on Tuesday - visiting with some good friends - Anson and Joanne. I was also delivering this little Blackwood infilled XSNo.4. This plane has a few unique features worth noting.

The sole of this plane may look pretty typical - but the material is quite unique - it is pure iron. There is a very skilled blacksmith in town here - and during one of my visits, I asked him if there was a material that would be “rust proof”. He said he had some pure iron from France that might be suitable. So he gave me a piece to try.

This plane is going to spend a good part of its life restoring a boat on the east coast - so rust was a primary concern. I used brass pins to hold the infill in - to eliminate another potential rust area. I used a steel pin to hold the lever cap - I was concerned that a 3/16"D brass pin would not hold up over time.

The pure iron sole was a real treat to work with - much softer than the 01 I usually use. It felt more like bronze than steel. It piened beautifully! I suspect this won’t be the last pure iron sole I use.

2 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Conrad, Beautiful planes. I really enjoyed talking with you at the tool show outside of Boston a couple of months back. I am a chemist but certainly not an expert on metals and their oxidation (corrosion). I am trying to understand the basis for pure iron's resistance to corrosion.

You are the second person today who has asked about the corrosion resistance of pure iron. I am most certainly not an expert on metals and their oxidation - so I am looking into this as well. If I find anything - I will let you know.